LOS ANGELES — In a city that values megawatt star power above all, it was almost unfathomable for the Los Angeles Lakers to believe they were getting dominated by the lowly Nuggets, whose center might not even be as good a basketball player as his mother.

During a 102-99 victory that saved Denver from NBA playoff elimination, the great Nuggets' experiment in team basketball worked to perfection. Kobe Bryant scored 43 for the Lakers, but Denver stole the show.

"The question is: Can you win without a superstar?" veteran Nuggets guard Andre Miller said Tuesday, during an interview with The Post prior to Game 5. "This is a superstar's league, and you can't win without a superstar."

Denver coach George Karl so loves the notion of basketball as a true cooperative effort that he has coined a term for it: teamness.

The Nuggets have the Lakers beat on pure numbers. There's more total horsepower on the Denver team bus, with more good players 1-12 on the roster. So maybe Karl should challenge L.A. coach Mike Brown to a drag race.

But the NBA isn't a team-building exercise.

It's a star-driven league for a star-obsessed society.

And the three biggest stars in this series are: 1) Bryant; 2) Pau Gasol, and 3) Andrew Bynum. "Kobe's incredible," Karl said. "He scares the heck out of me every time we play him."

Denver's answer was center JaVale McGee, the son of a former WNBA star. He dominated the Lakers with 21 points and 14 rebounds.

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The riddle for Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri is: How many players with true star quality has Denver assembled? On a young team, do the Nuggets have the makings of a Big Three in Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried?

This opening-round series has been a coming-out party for Faried, punctuated by an exclamation point with the force of a Manimal dunk. The relentless competitiveness is what's most impressive about Faried. Nothing deters or discourages him.

For example: After surrendering an offensive rebound for a cheap put-back basket by Bynum that put L.A. ahead 2-0, Faried sprinted the length of the court to score an easy layup of his own.

Gallinari is considered the steal of the deal that sent Anthony to the New York Knicks. Gallo can shoot from distance, slash to the hoop and survey the court with uncommon vision. His life is good. That's why I sometimes wonder if Gallinari has that intense, bordering on unhealthy obsession with winning common in many NBA stars.

The Nuggets seem to regard Gallinari as untouchable. I'm not anxious to move the 23-year-old forward, but consider him the franchise's most marketable trade commodity, should Ujiri seek another blockbuster deal.

From prodding given Lawson by Karl to step up and lead the team, it's clear the Nuggets believe their point guard should be the man. Brown gave Lawson the ultimate compliment by calling him "the head of the snake" and designing all L.A. defensive schemes to stop him.

What Tony Parker is to San Antonio and Russell Westbrook is to Oklahoma City, Lawson must become for the Nuggets.

Patience is a virtue in Ujiri's mind. But there's something even a smart Nuggets executive probably can't fully appreciate after fewer than two full years on the job. The fatigue and frustration of the Denver ticket-buying public extends back more than a decade, before the time when first-round playoff exits became the norm to a time when Denver was laughably inept as an NBA franchise.

As the Nuggets built a 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter, it wasn't funny to comedian Larry David and the beautiful people in the Staples Center who came out looking for a celebration but had to curb their enthusiasm. The crowd booed the home team.

The Lakers responded with a furious rally. Bryant and Ramon Sessions both missed field-goal attempts from three-point range that could have tied the score in the final seconds.

"Thank God," said Karl, appreciative for the divine intervention.

Without superstars on the court, the Nuggets will take help anywhere they can get it.

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